Average Dublin hotel room price rises 5.5% to €129

Dublin hotel occupancy in April 2017 stayed static compared with the same month a year earlier. Irish hotels as a whole recorded occupancy rates of 81.6 per cent, up 3.7 per cent in April 2017 compared with April 2016, while Dublin hotels, although unchanged, recorded occupancy rates of 86 per cent.

The data published by STR shows that the average daily rate of a room in Ireland in April 2017 increased by 7.7 per cent on the previous year to reach €122.60. For the same period, Dublin recorded a slightly lower percentage increase of 5.5 per cent, but rooms came in more expensive at €129.04.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR), or room revenue divided by rooms available, was €100.10 in the whole of Ireland in April 2017. That was an increase of 11.7 per cent on the same period a year earlier.

In Dublin that figure was €111.01 for the same period, an increase of 5.4 per cent on the previous year.

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In the 12 months to the end of April 2017 activity was a bit more subdued. In the whole of Ireland occupancy rates were 70.3 per cent, the average daily rate of a room was €114.76, but the revenue per room available was considerably lower at €80.67. Those figures were all up on the previous year.

Investors

For the same period in Dublin, occupancy rates were slightly higher at 75.5 per cent. The average daily rate for a room was €122.38 while the revenue per room available was €92.41 – an increase of 6.2 per cent on the twelve months to the end of April 2016.

In a note to investors, analysts at Investec said, "the Dublin RevPAR data is broadly in line with our expectations in the year to date . . . In terms of regional Ireland, April RevPAR was strong and was boosted by the timing of Easter. However, given the relatively small sample size we would point out that STR data for regional Ireland can be volatile."

Investec research suggested that revenue per room available will grow by 6.5 per cent in Dublin by the end of 2017.

Analysts at Davy Research held a similar view. In a note, they said: "April STR hotel data are a little mixed. We would have expected a stronger reading in the Dublin market given the timing of Easter, though Regional Ireland and the UK were both ahead of our expectations."